This is my son. He has tested on and off the spectrum since he was 3. Some say he just had anxiety. Now he is 18, diagnosed autism 1, but missed out on any services and bullied by both teachers and students his entire high school career. We feel so lost
Agree. I also feel like I am "both." I actually think most autistic people fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and their presentation can really change over time. This is why it makes sense that ASD is categorized as a unified condition, because there's so much overlap and each person is really unique and different from each other. I think everyone just wants their struggles to be validated and to get the help they need. There can be distress when attention and focus is put on people who don't seem to need very much support, because of fear that then people who need a lot of support won't get it. The truth is, nobody has ever really gotten the help they needed from society. So we have to all band together and recognize the different ways we all struggle in different contexts. We have to get out of competing in the suffering olympics and recognize our common goals. That is where we can head and it will be beautiful when we do that.
And what you were saying is true. Even though I was diagnosed in childhood, people have always expected more from me than I could give. When I fall behind and struggle I have gotten blamed and thought of as a malicious or bad person, as opposed to someone who is actually incapable of doing something. Autistic people usually have spikey cognitive profiles and splinter skills. My splinter skill happens to be language. So I can communicate well with words. But every single other cognitive ability and life skill is so so much lower, to the point that the averaged scores on cognitive tests cannot be used for me. Autism is unique because it's one of the only conditions where IQ is not correlated with adaptive functioning. Autistic people's adaptive functioning level is often on par with that of people with intellectual disability, even if we have average or above average IQ. This is why I really appreciate being part of the ASD category with people who have more obvious struggles, because that way I feel much less alone and I can tell people "I'm autistic, that's why I struggle so much with XYZ, you need to ignore my verbal abilities and support me with my processing challenges." My best friend in kindergarten was an autistic girl who barely spoke and had a 1-on-1 aid, but she is the reason I thought I might be autistic too, because we were so similar in many ways. Although others might just perceive me as "quirky" on first glance, I am absolutely disabled by my autism. It is a disability for me. I cannot drive a car, and I have support workers who help me each week to do grocery shopping, meal prep, laundry, and physical therapy exercises. One important thing to keep in mind is that there are 2 categories of ASD impairments, which are Social Communication Deficits and Restricted/Repetitive Behaviors. You can be Level 1, 2, or 3 in each of those categories. Someone can be L1 SCD and L2 RRB, L3 SCD and L2 RRB, L2 SCD and L1 RRB, and so on and so forth. Also, these labels don't necessarily correlate with adaptive functioning skills, they are just naming the level of support needed for each category of autism-specific impairment. Adaptive functioning assessments will give a better picture of someone's overall support needs in life as a whole. People shouldn't make assumptions about how much support autistic people need in daily life just based on how they come across at first glance. I recommend the documentary This Is Not About Me which follows the life of Jordyn Zimmerman. She was labeled nonverbal/severe/intellectually disabled/violent/unable to be independent. She used a PECS board to communicate until she learned how to use an iPad at the age of 18 if I remember correctly. She is still nonspeaking but she uses her iPad to communicate and she has taught classes to autistic students and attended college since becoming an adult.
Kindness goes a long way. Just having a basic understanding that we are all different in great ways, and that in itself is a blessing. There’s always something we can learn from others, and realizing we all just want the same things. Love, understanding, a chance- and many others, we all just have a different journey in this life
Something that stands out to me about you is you have Abby looking her age and in style. I see so many young adults like Abby or similar and their parents have them dressing like children. Abby is such a beautiful young lady and she looks like a beautiful young lady as well.
I like that you’re trying now and acknowledging the struggles of people with lower support needs now, but PLEASE stop calling it a “neurodifference”… to be diagnosed with autism you have to have marked deficits in 3 areas of functioning. The whole “neurodeficit vs neurodifferent” thing you have coined is misinformation. Sincerely, a person with level 2 ASD.
If people were kind, all would be so much better. ❤
For real
💯%
People sure can be terrible 😢
I watched the seaon with Adin on American Idol he was fabulous! and I loved how everyone around him was patient and kind with him.
This is my son. He has tested on and off the spectrum since he was 3. Some say he just had anxiety. Now he is 18, diagnosed autism 1, but missed out on any services and bullied by both teachers and students his entire high school career. We feel so lost
I’d recommend AANE (Association for Autism and Neurodiversity) as a starting point for some resources
For context, I’m diagnosed with level 1 autism and have been using AANE’s services for about a year now
Agree. I also feel like I am "both." I actually think most autistic people fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and their presentation can really change over time. This is why it makes sense that ASD is categorized as a unified condition, because there's so much overlap and each person is really unique and different from each other. I think everyone just wants their struggles to be validated and to get the help they need. There can be distress when attention and focus is put on people who don't seem to need very much support, because of fear that then people who need a lot of support won't get it. The truth is, nobody has ever really gotten the help they needed from society. So we have to all band together and recognize the different ways we all struggle in different contexts. We have to get out of competing in the suffering olympics and recognize our common goals. That is where we can head and it will be beautiful when we do that.
And what you were saying is true. Even though I was diagnosed in childhood, people have always expected more from me than I could give. When I fall behind and struggle I have gotten blamed and thought of as a malicious or bad person, as opposed to someone who is actually incapable of doing something. Autistic people usually have spikey cognitive profiles and splinter skills. My splinter skill happens to be language. So I can communicate well with words. But every single other cognitive ability and life skill is so so much lower, to the point that the averaged scores on cognitive tests cannot be used for me.
Autism is unique because it's one of the only conditions where IQ is not correlated with adaptive functioning. Autistic people's adaptive functioning level is often on par with that of people with intellectual disability, even if we have average or above average IQ. This is why I really appreciate being part of the ASD category with people who have more obvious struggles, because that way I feel much less alone and I can tell people "I'm autistic, that's why I struggle so much with XYZ, you need to ignore my verbal abilities and support me with my processing challenges." My best friend in kindergarten was an autistic girl who barely spoke and had a 1-on-1 aid, but she is the reason I thought I might be autistic too, because we were so similar in many ways.
Although others might just perceive me as "quirky" on first glance, I am absolutely disabled by my autism. It is a disability for me. I cannot drive a car, and I have support workers who help me each week to do grocery shopping, meal prep, laundry, and physical therapy exercises.
One important thing to keep in mind is that there are 2 categories of ASD impairments, which are Social Communication Deficits and Restricted/Repetitive Behaviors. You can be Level 1, 2, or 3 in each of those categories. Someone can be L1 SCD and L2 RRB, L3 SCD and L2 RRB, L2 SCD and L1 RRB, and so on and so forth. Also, these labels don't necessarily correlate with adaptive functioning skills, they are just naming the level of support needed for each category of autism-specific impairment. Adaptive functioning assessments will give a better picture of someone's overall support needs in life as a whole.
People shouldn't make assumptions about how much support autistic people need in daily life just based on how they come across at first glance. I recommend the documentary This Is Not About Me which follows the life of Jordyn Zimmerman. She was labeled nonverbal/severe/intellectually disabled/violent/unable to be independent. She used a PECS board to communicate until she learned how to use an iPad at the age of 18 if I remember correctly. She is still nonspeaking but she uses her iPad to communicate and she has taught classes to autistic students and attended college since becoming an adult.
Well said! I love your videos! This is SO helpful to SO many people!
Kindness goes a long way.
Just having a basic understanding that we are all different in great ways, and that in itself is a blessing. There’s always something we can learn from others, and realizing we all just want the same things. Love, understanding, a chance- and many others, we all just have a different journey in this life
Something that stands out to me about you is you have Abby looking her age and in style. I see so many young adults like Abby or similar and their parents have them dressing like children. Abby is such a beautiful young lady and she looks like a beautiful young lady as well.
I like that you’re trying now and acknowledging the struggles of people with lower support needs now, but PLEASE stop calling it a “neurodifference”… to be diagnosed with autism you have to have marked deficits in 3 areas of functioning. The whole “neurodeficit vs neurodifferent” thing you have coined is misinformation. Sincerely, a person with level 2 ASD.
Sincere question. Does Abby have sexual relationships? How does she navigate that part of her life? What is her emotional age?